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Forum on the Green Revolution in Africa

The 7th African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) was held from 4 to 8 September in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Established in 2010, the forum brings together international and African experts on African agricultural issues to exchange ideas and design new action plans for the Green Revolution in Africa. This year’s theme was: Accelerating the path to prosperity: Growing inclusive economies and jobs through agriculture. The forum was chaired by the President of Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, and was organised in co-operation with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the AGRF Partners Group. It brought together some 1 300 government representatives and over 300 stakeholders. Discussions were based on AGRA’s 2017 African agriculture status report entitled, “The business of smallholder agriculture,” which emphasised the importance of market liberalisation and the need to replace imports with value-added food commodities produced in Africa for a market that is expected to reach USD 1 trillion by 2030. The forum assessed the use of the USD 30 billion pledged during AGRF 2016 and the progress that has been made. Participants were able to join six thematic groups related to youth, women, inputs, markets, mechanisation and finance. Many partnership agreements were signed with the private sector, notably between Côte d’Ivoire and AGRA concerning the establishment of an AGRA headquarters in that country to assist Francophone countries in West Africa achieving their agricultural transformation goals.